Richard Shock

What began as a hobby turned into a passion and then a career without ever becoming tedious or losing the fascination of seeing what is inside a plain but promising lump of wood.

I started making bowls and platters and they still form a major part of my work. Functional objects should also have pleasing design. My shapes are dictated by the form, outline and faults in the original wood and by constantly seeking for new ideas, looking particularly at the work of makers in other media, aiming to develop but never plagiarise. Decoration is determined particularly by the figuring and grain of the wood. In general, I finish those with plain figuring with beads, coves and my signature inlays, while those with burrs and ripples, and the swirls of crotch wood, need little or no further enhancement.

Using my inlays I have developed the discus form, pioneered by other woodturners, to explore mixing colours and textures, and recently spaces, to create objects which are purely decorative.

My paperweights often in mixed woods (supplied in presentation boxes and weighted with metal to ensure that they do the job) have proved to be very successful. I also make turned boxes, which serve to hold jewellery and other small items, with simple shapes and designed to show off beautiful grain.

I am a strong advocate for the view that woodturning, at its best, is an art form to stand alongside other media, such as ceramics, glass and stone, more recognized as the basis of craftsmanship.